Grant winners – 17 November 2016

Economic and Social Research Council

Research Grants

• Award winner: Victoria Canning
• Institution: Open University
• Value: £105,328

Gendered experiences of social harm in asylum: Exploring state responses to persecuted women in Britain, Denmark and Sweden

• Award winner: Katherine Margaret Dommett
• Institution: University of Sheffield
• Value: £153,392

Renewing party politics? Digital innovations in political campaigning

• Award winner: Samuel Vincent Wass
• Institution: University of East London
• Value: £143,692

What is the difference between “good” and “bad” stress? Understanding possible effects of socio-economic status on learning

• Award winner: Giacomo Persi Paoli
• Institution: RAND Europe Community Interest Company
• Value: £80,440

Behind the Curtain: an investigation of the illicit trade in firearms and explosives on the dark net

Australian Research Council

Discovery Projects

• Award winner: Andrew Herries
• Institution: La Trobe University
• Value: A$328,000

Evolving landscapes of our early South African ancestors

• Award winner: Colette Boskovic
• Institution: University of Melbourne
• Value: A$402,500

Enhancing single-molecule magnets

• Award winner: Michael McDonnell
• Institution: University of Sydney
• Value: A$211,000

War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution

Leverhulme Trust

Research Grants

• Award winner: Ruth Gregory
• Institution: Durham University
• Value: £192,413

Challenging the standard model with black holes

• Award winner: Alistair McGregor
• Institution: Oxford Brookes University
• Value: £160,246

How to build a spider: regulation of segmentation in Parasteatoda tepidariorum

• Award winner: John Divers
• Institution: University of Leeds
• Value: £165,945

Thinking counterfactually: How would have been reveals what is and what must be

In detail

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Award winner: Paul David Fraser
Institution: Royal Holloway, University of London
Value: £477,940

Optimisation of tomato fruit carotenoid content for nutritional improvement and industrial exploitation

The bright colours of most flowers, fruits and vegetables are caused by organic pigments, such as carotenoids. Carotenoids – which are responsible for the orange of carrots and the yellow of daffodils – are vital constituents of a healthy human diet, dissipating certain types of molecules that cause damage to the body. They are desirable not just to the food industry but also to the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries; although their commercial production is far from cheap or environmentally friendly. This project will focus not on producing more carotenoids but rather on how to retain them. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to identify the enzyme, CCD4, that is responsible for degrading carotenoids. The team will investigate how the pigments are broken down, and will use gene editing technology to develop plants that can produce less CCD4 and, therefore, retain more useful carotenoids.